Jang Jung Ki, Head of Naver Tech, "Experience Concerts from 10 Years Ago... Virtual Reality Will Go Mainstream Within 5 Years" [Interview with Top Technologists] ⑭

"Immersive media that surrounds you is Naver's core"
Expanding VR content through live streaming
AI automatically creates short-form content... Personalized content recommendations
Investing in service stability... Data redundancy measures

Jang Jung Ki, Head of Tech Platform at Naver, is showing a European-style background on a motion studio for creator video shooting during an interview with Asia Economy at Naver headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si. Photo by Heo Young Han

"Two months ago, I attended the Coldplay concert in Korea, and I noticed that the audience was all busy recording videos with their phones. If someone could record the concert in a way that truly captures the experience, people could enjoy the performance much more. For example, if a concert is captured in virtual reality, people could relive the excitement of the venue even after ten years. In this way, virtual reality content becomes a time machine."

On June 5, at Naver headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Jang Jung Ki, Head of Tech Platform Division, described immersive media?technology that will become increasingly important in the future?in these terms. He explained that increasing immersion so that viewers feel as if video content is real will be the key factor that determines the competitiveness of content companies.

"Virtual reality technology will become mainstream by 2030"

Jang stated, "Looking ahead five years, immersive media will be one of the most important technologies for the Naver platform."

The main mission of the Tech Platform Division he leads is to develop new media technologies. Unlike traditional screen-based media such as TV or smartphones, immersive media is characterized by allowing users to feel as if they are inside the media. Virtual reality (VR) is a representative technology in this field.

Jang is focusing on producing VR content to realize immersive media. This is not limited to concerts. For example, when traveling, a virtual guide can accompany users, and when shopping, a virtual personal shopper can assist them. Naver plans to develop content that provides vivid experiences for users in its main service areas.

For the usefulness of this content to be proven in the near future, the popularization of VR devices is most important. Jang said, "Within as little as three years, or at most five years, VR devices will become dramatically smaller and lighter, and their price will also decrease. Once we reach a world where anyone can easily use VR devices, the change will be even bigger and more powerful than when smartphones first appeared. Naver is preparing for that time." Currently, Naver is working with Samsung Electronics to develop content for an extended reality (XR) headset called 'Project Infinite.'

"Naver will take the lead in VR content"

Virtual streamer 'Eris' Chijijik 3D debut showcase screen. Naver Chijijik broadcast screen capture

To create content suitable for the virtual reality era, a fundamentally different production environment and data transmission technology are required. Naver's live streaming platform 'Chijijik' is where these experiments are taking place. On Chijijik, anyone can broadcast live video in real time. Recently, 'virtual streamers' have been gaining popularity. These streamers use special equipment to capture and mimic the movements and facial expressions of real people through avatars. Until last year, due to technological limitations, avatars could only be represented as 2D characters, capturing only upper body movements and facial expressions.

However, starting this year, the level of Chijijik has completely changed. Jang said, "We have introduced technology that allows virtual streamers to broadcast live in 3D," adding, "Naver is the only company in the world with this level of technology." This became possible after building specialized studios for virtual content production?'Motion Stage' and 'Vision Stage'?on the first basement floor of the headquarters.

Motion Stage captures the full-body movements of streamers from multiple angles and projects them onto avatars. Vision Stage provides virtual backgrounds that can take them anywhere they want. He explained, "The key is to animate the character, combine it with a virtual background, and broadcast in real time without interruptions," adding, "Content optimized for virtual reality is about making viewers feel as if they have entered that world."

The first live broadcast was held three months ago by Chijijik's leading virtual streamer 'Eris,' recording 540,000 views. Jang said, "During the Naver eSports League of Legends World Championship finals, where Faker, the world's top professional gamer, competed, the live broadcast reached 500,000 views. Eris's broadcast attracted just as much attention from viewers," adding, "So far, there have been three 3D live broadcasts, and the response has been explosive."

The reason live broadcasting is important is because it enables real-time communication with viewers. In such an environment, even commerce is possible. This is only possible with ultra-fast, ultra-low-latency video transmission technology. Jang cited the 'Prism Live Studio' application, which incorporates Naver's live streaming technology, as an example. This app currently ranks number one globally in the field of mobile live streaming.

'Autoclip AI' to automatically create short-form content

Jang Jung Ki, Head of Tech Platform Division at Naver, is being interviewed by Asia Economy at Naver headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si. Photo by Huh Young Han

Naver's 'On-Service AI' strategy, which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) in its services, is also being applied to video. For users who want to upload short-form videos to 'Naver Clip,' the company is developing an 'Autoclip AI' feature. Jang said, "AI will automatically create short-form content from videos and even add subtitles, making it easier for users to edit," adding, "We expect to launch this within this year."

Customized services for Chijijik and Naver Clip users will also be introduced. He said, "We are developing a feed that recommends videos users want to see and filters out those they do not want to watch using AI," adding, "It will also hide low-quality videos, advertisements, and abusive videos that excessively use irrelevant tags to increase search exposure." When a video is uploaded, AI will analyze it and assign scores based on factors such as explicitness, violence, and potential for imitation.

Ensuring Naver remains accessible even during national disasters

Jang Jung Ki, Head of Tech Platform Division at Naver, is showing a European-style background screen in the motion studio for creator video shooting during an interview with Asia Economy at Naver headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si. Photo by Huh Young Han

Jang is also focusing on the fundamental capability of platform companies: service stability. For example, when a national disaster occurs, traffic to Naver surges, so there is a manual in place to handle this. He explained, "So-called 'emergency mode' is activated, removing unnecessary functions from the site and operating only with minimum features to handle the increased traffic," adding, "When an earthquake occurred in Gyeongju, the system automatically switched to emergency mode within 15 seconds, and even though more than 200,000 people accessed the site per second at that time, there were no problems."

The company is also preparing for potential service errors. Jang said, "After the fire at the Pangyo Data Center, we created a data disaster recovery task force (TF)." He continued, "All data must be 'redundant' (stored on different servers), and at least one replica must exist in another data center. We also regularly conduct drills by actually blocking access to a specific data center to verify that Naver services continue to operate without issues."